Happy Feet Two (2011)

Happy Feet Two Synopsis

The sequel to Happy Feet, the Academy Award®-winning animated smash hit, Happy Feet Two returns audiences to the magnificent landscape of Antarctica in superb 3D. Mumble, The Master of Tap, has a problem because his tiny son, Erik, is choreo-phobic. Reluctant to dance, Erik runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven—a penguin who can fly! Mumble has no hope of competing with this charismatic new role model. But things get worse when the world is shaken by powerful forces. Erik learns of his father’s “guts and grit” as Mumble brings together the penguin nations and all manner of fabulous creatures—from tiny Krill to giant Elephant Seals—to put things right.

When animating films, director George Miller doesn’t go the standard route. Instead of having each individual actor come in for their own recording session one at a time, Miller brings all of his performers together and has them perform their conversations not with him, but with the other performers. But why do it that way? What doesn’t everyone do it? I ask George Miller that very question in our one-on-one interview.

This weekend the singing and dancing penguins of Happy Feet are back for another round, as Happy Feet Two hits theaters with new songs, new characters, and even a pair of soul-searching krill embodied by the voices of Matt Damon and Brad Pitt. 'Tis the season for family movies, after all

One of the most impressive things about most animated films is that they are made with each voice actor doing their recording sessions individually. Though you can never sense it in the final cut, one has to imagine that it's a challenge reading lines not only when you're not given any sensory stimuli, but when you're having a conversation with someone who isn't there.

Robin Williams was easily the best part of George Miller's animated penguin flick Happy Feet, but I'm starting to get the sense that Matt Damon and Brad Pitt are going to be stealing the show in the sequel. Together for the first time since 2007's Ocean's Thirteen, the pair plays Will and Bill, a couple of bottom-feeding krill just trying to make their way in the world.

Penguins are adorable. There, I said it. I basically coo every single time I see one of those tuxedo-wearing, flightless bastards. It was only a couple years ago that penguins took Hollywood by storm, with movies like March of the Penguins, Madagascar, Surf's Up and Happy Feet. Now it would seem that fad is coming back around again.